1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to reclining chairs and more particularly, to mechanisms for reclining the seat and back portion of such reclining chairs.
2. Prior Art
In the prior art, there are several different types of reclining chairs. All of these reclining chairs essentially perform the same function. That is the function of reclining; however, these prior art reclining chairs all have certain deficiencies. In particular, when the chairs recline, the feet of the person sitting in the chair rise off the floor as the front portion of the seat rises. Such a condition is particularly undesirable in reclining chairs utilized in offices.
The reclining mechanism is usually further provided with a spring which can be adjusted for preload for varying the biasing force against the reclining motion of the chair so that the chair cannot fall backward with the person in it; however, this spring can be adjusted only for preload and nothing else. Preload adjustability alone does not provide the capability for equal starting positions for large and small persons and does not provide the same feel throughout the range of reclining travel for large and small persons. As a result, chairs with only preload adjustability are optimized essentially for only one size person. Therefore, chairs which are designed for people who are heavy cannot be utilized by people who are light in weight and vice versa.
There does exist reclining chairs in the prior art which reduce or eliminate the first above disadvantage; however, while these prior art reclining chairs may reduce or eliminate this disadvantage, they have other disadvantages of their own. Examples of such disadvantages are that they are complex in structure, difficult and expensive to manufacture and do not feel equally comfortable during reclining motion for both light and heavy weight persons.
Examples of prior art reclining chairs which possess one or more of the above disadvantages and which may have attempted to solve some of the above-described disadvantages are described in the issued patents as follows:
______________________________________ United States: 910,357 2,272,980 2,479,175 2,611,420 2,616,483 2,925,122 3,856,346 4,372,608 4,386,805 4,402,546 4,529,247 4,650,248 4,682,814 4,684,173 4,779,925 4,804,277 4,865,384 4,889,384 4,889,385 4,892,354 4,911,501 4,962,962 5,033,791 5,046,780 5,160,184 5,288,138 5,375,912 German DE4220881-A1 ______________________________________